For my birthday this year, I decided to celebrate the weekend in Seattle. Throughout the twenty years I lived in Oregon, I somehow never made my way to explore Washington – and let’s face it, the foodie scene is really blowing up there. Naturally, we spent the weekend eating and drinking our way through the city, and below I outline a couple of the spots that made a lasting impression. For this write up, I focus only on the cocktails – I mean who doesn’t love a great cocktail?
Stateside: We came here for my birthday dinner. I started off with a Pineapple Margarita (mezcal, plantation pineapple rum, sour pineapple, triple sec) – the mezcal is what really caught my eye this one. I also tried the classic coconut drink, simply called “The Coconut” – and yes, it’s served in a whole young coconut with an umbrella on top. The drink also mixes rum, lime leaf and galangal. This fits their tropical interior perfectly. We continued the cocktail celebrations at their bar next door, Foreign National, where, of course, I tried another mezcal cocktail.
East Trading Company – We came here for cocktails. It’s a newer spot with a zodiac theme throughout, including twelve cocktails for all twelve zodiac signs. I opted for the Year of the Rooster (gin, aperol, smith & cross, honey chartreuse, grapefruit & lemon, lemon berry sage syrup, brut, butterfly pea flower tea) – but only because I was born the year of the Rooster. As cool as I thought the concept would be, I unfortunately didn’t end up enjoying the drink.
The Hart & The Hunter – We came here because this was the restaurant below our hotel. We were staying at the new Palisociety hotel on our last night and figured we would begin the evening with a cocktail and oysters. While the service was not great, I loved my Elliot Bay Gibson cocktail (oyster shell-infused Plymouth gin, blanc vermouth, fino sherry, maldon, bay leaf olive oil, onion). A smooth, savory beverage and the perfect complement to our oysters. Next time, I’ll try their famous butter biscuits.
Knee High Stocking Co. – We came here for the cocktails and speakeasy atmosphere. As with other speakeasies, this was a very unassuming bar. I wouldn’t have known it existed hadn’t someone told me about it. I was craving another savory cocktail, which they unfortunately did not have. I ended up ordering an off the menu drink and simply asked the bartender to surprise me. He mixed a gin-based cocktail similar to a cucumber martini and I loved it!
Chan – We came here because we were craving chicken wings, and the ones we got were quite possibly the best wings I’ve ever had. None of the cocktails were calling my name, so we ended up trying their house-infused soju flight, which came with five different infused soju. I ended up only really enjoying one of five flavors – the Earl Gray.